Google bigger star than American Idol? Voters say: Trash the TV, keep the home computer!

Remember “I want my MTV!”?  Well, that’s done with and over.  It’s a new generation.

First fact: Fully 85% of voters say they have home computers.  That includes 67% of seniors, 76% of rural voters and 40% of households with incomes under $20K.

When asked which they would give up if forced to make a choice – their TV or their home computer, fully 55% said they would give up their TVs and just 43% offered up their computers (of course, two percent refused to even entertain the choice between the two).

Not surprisingly, there’s a generation divide on the question, with younger Americans (that is, under the age of 55, by my definition of “younger”) choosing to trash their TVs rather than their computers by a 60%-38% margin, and those over 55 choosing to give up their home computers by a 54%-44% margin.

Interestingly, voters in the West are once again the trend-leaders, as fully 63% say they would give up their TVs, while voters in the Northeast were least likely to want to part with their TVs.

Finally, it’s the education level of the respondent, rather than the income level that provides the better “cut” of the data.   There’s a 42-point net difference in attitudes on this question by higher and lower education level (with higher educated voters opting to give up their TVs), compared to a 26-point net difference by higher and lower income levels.

Public Opinion Strategies